NORTHWEST
CHOCOLATE
AWARDS

Maya Shoop-Rooten

Chocolate Maya

Not all chocolate is created equal. At Chocolate Maya, it has been our mission since 2007 to find the world’s highest quality chocolate bars. We are also known for our original chocolate confections that reflect Maya’s European roots and the fresh flavors from our home in Santa Barbara, California. Chocolate Maya aims to facilitate a community of chocolate lovers who feel connected to every part of the chocolate making process: from our team in the Chocolate Maya kitchen to local/international bean-to-bar makers, and to cacao farmers around the world.

Megan Giller

Chocolate Noise

Megan Giller is a food writer and the author of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Slate, Zagat, and Food & Wine, and her blog Chocolate Noise was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist. She also hosts luxury chocolate-tasting events, teaches classes at the Institute of Culinary Education and other locales, and judges at chocolate competitions. Follow her on Instagram at @chocolatenoise.

Jesse Manis

Cacao

Jesse Manis is the co-founder of Cacao, which celebrates flavor and quality, featuring a curated selection of chocolate bars from leading craft chocolate makers around the world, the best confectionary from Northwest chocolatiers, and a house-made selection of chocolate drinks. Jesse grew up making sweets for his family and learned the confectionary ropes at Fran’s Chocolates in Seattle before leaving to open his own business. Jesse is in his third year as the co-chair for the confections committee of the Good Food Awards and has been a judge for The International Chocolate Awards and a variety of regional chocolate events. He lives with his husband Aubrey in Portland where he enjoys exercising, gardening, traveling and spending time with his dog Cooper.

Karen Neugebauer

Forte Chocolates

Master Chocolatier, Karen Neugebauer is a true Artisan who is at the forefront of the Seattle artisan chocolate scene. She believes in the philosophy that to celebrate chocolate is to celebrate life which led her to follow a true artisan mindset — crafting every piece by hand. Her passion for the craft and cunningly balanced flavor profiles have led to earning numerous awards and being ranked among the world’s best chocolatiers.

Aaron Barthel

Intrigue Chocolate Co.

Aaron Barthel is a artisanal chocolate maker, specializing in fresh, handcrafted truffles that celebrate the discovery of new flavors. Good food was everywhere growing up, from his childhood on a dairy farm in rural Minnesota, to earning a degree in Ecology/Botany at Saint John’s University, a short career as a bread baker on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior, and nine months spent volunteering at a small micro-brewery. Full of bread and beer, Aaron packed his bumbershoot and moved to Seattle, where he helped some friends start a catering business with a social ethic. They needed a dessert item that had an extra special, so Aaron started dabbling in an old hobby again: making dark chocolate ganache truffles. They were a hit. Aaron took his experience and founded Intrigue Chocolate Co. with a soft launch in 2005 and full steam in 2006 Since then he’s created over 350 different dark chocolate truffles, such as the popular Basil, Mocha, Bourbon & Vanilla Bean, Cacao Nib infusion, and signature Jamaican Hot Chocolate flavors. You can find them around Seattle being paired with local wines, tea, coffee, beers, and craft liquors.

Chloé Doutre-Roussel

Chloé Doutre-Roussel is an author, consultant, educator, and internationally recognized expert with more than 35 years of experience in fine cacao and chocolate. A former buyer at Fortnum and Mason, shop manager at Ladurée, author of The Chocolate Connoisseur, and creator of Chloe Chocolat in Paris, she has also worked with El Ceibo, a cooperative of cocoa farmers in Bolivia, to launch a vertically integrated tree to bar to bonbon brand. Chloe is a regular juror at the Academy of Chocolate Awards (AOC) and at the Northwest Chocolate Festival. She is member of honor of the AOC, founding member of the Academia del Chocolate of Ecuador, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA).

Aubrey Lindley

Cacao

Aubrey Lindley co-founded Cacao in Portland Oregon. Opened in 2006, Cacao is a destination for innovative craft chocolate and traditional chocolate drinks. Aubrey has over a decade of experience working with craft chocolate evaluating it for various chocolate organizations as well as for his own customers. Aubrey has opinions about the ever evolving world of craft chocolate and isn’t afraid to share them. When not talking about chocolate Aubrey is probably outside in the garden with his dog.

Rob Anderson

Fresco Chocolate

Rob started Fresco Chocolate in 2010 out of a love if chocolate and a curiosity about how many unique flavors could be coaxed from cacao through different roasting levels and conching variations. As an Engineer, Rob has an insatiable need to understand each variable effecting the flavor of chocolate. He believes that great chocolate is created through a series of events, change any one event and the outcome is a new creation.

Arcelia Gallardo

Arcelia Gallardo has been in chocolate industry for 16 years, first as a chocolatier with a store in Berkeley, California and now as a chocolate maker in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her brand, Mission Chocolate, has helped pioneer the craft chocolate movement in Brazil by hosting chocolate tastings, teaching chocolate making courses, founding an association for bean to bar chocolate makers and coordinating Bean to Bar Chocolate Week Brazil. She is the President of Bean to Bar Brazil and in her free time she travels through Latin America to teach indigenous women to work with cacao.

Lauren Adler

Chocolopolis

Lauren Adler founded Chocolopolis to satisfy a craving for more than just chocolate. She has a passion for sharing the story of fine cacao, from its origins as a revered Aztec drink to the varied flavor profiles of cacao grown in different regions of the equatorial belt. Lauren opened Chocolopolis in 2008 just as the craft chocolate movement was beginning in the US. Flanked by a handful of American bean-to-bar chocolate makers, Lauren began educating US consumers about cacao and chocolate. She has built a broad community of like-minded chocophiles in Seattle and the US who appreciate and enjoy the experience of tasting and sharing fine chocolate. She has over 10 years of experience in tasting chocolate made with fine flavor cacao, and has become a sought-after palate when evaluating new craft chocolate.

Kara Hayes

Chocolate Pursuit

Kara Hayes is the founder of Chocolate Pursuit, a specialty chocolate tastings and tours business in Portland, Oregon, which focuses on bringing chocolate education to the chocolate enthusiasts in stimulating and dynamic ways. She has been exploring the world of craft chocolate since she became the leader of the Portland Chocoholics meetup group in 2016 and has facilitated guided tastings and pairings in the Portland community. Kara’s vivacity for chocolate stems from the passion, precision, and persistence she sees in today’s craft chocolate makers! She is also a writer, dancer, and chocolate rapper (yes, she has a chocolate rap)!